


Cursed Popularity

by BAPyTurtle



Series: SEVENTEEN One-Shots [3]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Prompt from Seventeen's Still Lonely, TRIGGER WARNING! Depression & Character Death, fluff for like a second
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 23:38:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7865917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BAPyTurtle/pseuds/BAPyTurtle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being popular isn’t always a good thing. Sure, it was fun at the start but now, Wonwoo feels the opposite of popular despite the numerous people that surrounded him.</p>
<p>That is, until he met a certain sunshine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cursed Popularity

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't read the tags, Imma state it here~
> 
> [TRIGGER WARNING! Depression & Character Death]

"Yo, Wonwoo! Going to Dongho's party tonight?" One of his friends yelled a few metres away from where he sat. The raven-haired male responded with a gesture before continuing to keep the papers he had sprawled on the cafe's table, successfully completing an assignment before the next class.

As he stood up, he met with a couple of other people he knew, greeting him and asking to have lunch together the following day. "Sure. I think I'll be free." Wonwoo replied and the three figures that stood beside him smiled, patting his back then, leaving in the opposite direction they came from.

His plodding walk to Lecture Hall 107 that had a class starting in 20 minutes was put to a pause when two girls came up to him. "Hey Wonwoo. We're from the Book Club. If you remembered, I'm the current president and we were wondering if we could get your number. To, like, inform meeting times and to add you to the club's chat room."

He could tell what her initial intent was (since there was actually no need for a chat room) but he gave it anyway, in hopes that she has a good purpose. "One more number wouldn't hurt, right?" Wonwoo thought as he remembers the continuously growing notifications on his phone; messages, SNS alerts and invites of the like.

He still can't believe his phone once overheated, then shut down from the multiple beeps after returning from a party in the early days of university.

 

 

When his classes for the day ended, he headed back to change for the gathering. Wonwoo received a call from his friend and they were soon on the way to the location via Wonwoo's car.

"You made it! I just knew the VIP would get here on time, as usual. GUYS! WONWOO'S HERE SO, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!" The host, Dongho, shouted when he opened the front door to see the tall male with his friend.

The party was like every other one he's been to; loud music, glaring lights, food and drinks at every corner of the residence, and having nearly no personal space.

Especially in Wonwoo's case, where people followed him around (like ocean waves, somewhat) and surrounded him with questions, stories and laughter. The amount of people he knew could cause a traffic jam of some sort. He was used to the popularity, but as more time, parties, hangouts and conversations go by, the previously feeling of excitement had disappeared and changed to something else.

The party came to a close and Wonwoo reaches home with a heavy, dark feeling buried in his heart. In the silence of his bedroom, the notifications of his phone are the only noises heard. He remembers the phone numbers that piled up with all the exchanges made; numbers he won't bother contacting. He's begun to hate how they increase when he doesn't want it to.

After the second minute of countless alerts, the university student took his phone from his pockets; shutting it down before tossing it across the room.

 

 

What is this so-called famous life that other people dream of living? It makes him frustrated that he was one of those people who wished for their shooting star to come true. What was the reason he had to go through this torture?

All he did was enter university and students were suddenly flocking around him. A million causes could be the factor; his appearance, his sense of style, his intelligence, his 'cool' attitude and his hilarious jokes. Okay, maybe the last one had been just his opinion, but that still left a ton more.

The over-flowing popularity on the outside is in direct contrast, with the hollow house deep in Wonwoo's heart. He can seem so confident when he's around individuals of all sorts, but the moment he steps foot into his home, his shoulders slouch due to the tiredness of his soul.

It was getting late and Wonwoo decided to wash his face before going to bed. As he looks at the bathroom mirror, the only thing he sees is a pathetic man who can't cope with the surroundings that don't fit his well being. It's the last visual he remembers before he fell asleep, whispering to himself,

"I feel empty."

 

 

Waking up the next morning only made Wonwoo frown when he remembers his never-ending fate repeating itself. After getting ready, he trudged out of the apartment complex and quickly pulled his jacket close when he felt the cold morning wind blow through the empty hallway.

He looked up to see dark clouds covering the grey sky; pretty 'nice' way to start off his morning, with an upcoming storm. Along with the sound of his phone beeping again, the day already made him feel lonely.

When Wonwoo reached the university campus, a couple of 'friends' greeted him as well as inviting him to more trivial hangouts. Every day, he's forced to accept that he's soaked in popularity and the rain that begun to pour, only added more acid to the sour day he was having.

Though, he would be more willing to be soaked in the rain rather than this horrible curse as his heart slowly withers.

 

 

 

His winter and spring breezes pass with him being alone despite the mass amount of people confiding him. "This cursed popularity..... Why won't it go away?" He talked to himself again.

Days past, time go by and all that fills his heart is a cruel emptiness that he must overcome on his own. It doesn't help that soon, his attitude towards everything drops and all he can think is, "Whatever."

Going by the seasons alone is painful. That is, until summer rolls in.

 

 

 

He came into Wonwoo's life just as summer had begun; the boy was like a sunshine that brightened up Wonwoo's dark life caused by popularity within the campus and his name, was Lee Seokmin. Strangely enough, Seokmin's presence is the only one whom he doesn't get sick of nor feel lonely around. It made him feel happier for once and the hollow house in his heart, was filled with a bright light like the past.

It was a simple way to meet.

A mutual friend introduced him during lunch one hot afternoon. Wonwoo was about to sigh at the increasing pressure of 'friends' when he suddenly heard the male's optimistic comment after sitting down.

"Your gaze makes you seem lonely. Don't worry, if I'm by your side, forget the word lonely, all you'll think about is how comforting I am!"

And his words were true; every time he was with the summer-like boy, he could finally smile. It was the start of his seasons without a sense of emptiness in his soul.

 

 

Wonwoo and Seokmin would spend their free time together so much that they were soon inseparable.

The day would start off with a short jog or a round of badminton together at the university's recreational park followed by breakfast at Seokmin's apartment; typically cereal and if they had the ingredients, some pancakes (which would have at least one that failed, either burnt or an unsuccessful flip).

If their lectures matched up, lunch would be at the food court or cafe that featured a relay of dumb stories and jokes. There was sometimes a chance that they would make a ruckus like laughing so hard, food accidentally flew out of their mouths.

If they have extra time during the afternoons, Wonwoo and Seokmin would help each other finish assignments even though they probably didn't understand a single thing the other was learning. It was more of a moral support rather than actual aiding.

Certain nights would be spent eating takeout at the elder's residence with a marathon of variety shows, especially Running Man. If he was in for it, they would go to parties together, but never leaving each other's side; the dark feeling he used to have wasn't there anymore. His nights were never cold when the sunshine was around.

 

 

As the seasons changed, Wonwoo surprised himself when the attitude he had before was no longer present with his friend's existence in his life.

Soon, that friendship begun to slowly blossom despite the winter weather that shortly arrived. The popular student's fondness for the younger student transitioned to something different, rather odd as well. It wasn't until he could feel his heart beating erratically at the sight of Seokmin's smile did Wonwoo realise, he was in love with the cause of his happiness, the reason he didn't feel empty, the presence he didn't mind.

Wonwoo loved Seokmin.

Should he confess? He wondered for quite some time before confronting his crush. "I... I really like you," he softly muttered in between the break of the variety show they were watching. Again, he got to see the bright smile Seokmin always displayed, but this one felt warmer as it was a sign of accepting his profession of love.

Their lives, even after being together didn't change too much, which made Wonwoo jovial.

Daily routines continued, but now with a slight twist of small gestures filled with love. From holding hands during the walks towards lectures to embracing each other after a tiring day, resting in someone's bed. It was an emotion neither wanted to change for anything in the world.

 

 

 

But of course, change is a must in the ever-repeating cycle of life in this cruel reality. Wonwoo only wished it didn't come so promptly; particularly on a beautiful spring day that was filled with vibrant shades of pastel and could blind his eyes with nature's beauty. It was something he refused to believe, not on a glorious day like that; impossible in a way.

Though, it did happen.

He was merely sitting in the lecture hall, the second boring class after lunch with his lover. It happened too soon for his liking, but when he received a call from Seokmin's phone and heard someone else's voice answer it, he knew something had gone terribly wrong.

Sweat dripped from his forehead and drenched his T-shirt as panic and worry filled the expressions on his face; his breath grew unstable as tiredness covered his body.

 

A tear drops when Wonwoo sees him; it was in a way he least hoped for. No words came out of his mouth after that, nothing could be said to alter the outcome he had just witnessed.

The bright sky seemed awfully dusky when he finds out he lost his source of sunshine.

The doctor states that he lost a large amount of blood from the car accident, noting how the white sheet still had red stains in places where the blow was the deepest. The verdict was already made even before he was carried into the emergency room. They were already calling up his family to prepare the funeral.

Wonwoo continued to stare in pain at the bed which Seokmin's cold body laid on.

The following days, at every second, he mourned at the loss of a friend, a partner and a ray of happiness. He forced himself to go to the funeral where they would lay his body to rest, an area near his family's residence. However, he could only sit at the back, tears silently trickling down his swollen cheeks.

 

 

 

Wonwoo manages to go back to the university despite the emptiness of Seokmin by his side. "Guess I'm alone again," he thinks to himself as people began crowding him once again with pitiful words and fake emotions, asking if he was alright.

The answer is no.

Just as his life was prior to Seokmin's arrival, he became depressed all by himself again as he wondered why he's like that. The loneliness crawled back into his soul and similar to dust, caked Wonwoo's hollow house deep in his heart.

 

The curse has returned.

 


End file.
